Madeline Fretz - As a huge Baby Einstein fan, I've listened to almost all the pieces Bill Weisbach and the Music Box Orchestra ever put out, be it video or CD. Throughout the pre-Kids II years, the company probably put out more CDs than videos, and I'm going to rank them all right now. Enjoy, and you should probably listen to these CDs while I discuss 'em.
NOTICE: I'm only listing CDs before Kids II came on the scene, so NO Hello Enstein Studios CDs with badly-sounding and mislabeled pieces, here. The Definitive 100 also won't be listed here since that was probably a digital-only release. Also fanmade ones since they're, well, fanmade ones, though I will mention one at one point, so, they tuned.
Many of you probably saw this coming. Out of each and every "classic" album released, this one has to be the weakest. Barney the Dinosaur did a better job than this. What I'm saying is that Playdate Fun has lots and lots of nursery rhymes and children's songs, and, like, four classical music pieces. However, I do like the Beethoven pieces this one chose.
Animal Friends
This CD is like an audio version of the Baby Dolittle titles albeit with mostly public domain tunes - songs about the furry friends we call animals bookended by classical music pieces, but it has the same problem as Playdate Fun AND, to a lesser extent, the CD down below, for there's lots of kiddie songs and only two pieces.
Sing and Play
Sing and Play is full of nursery rhymes and children's songs, most of which were heard in video releases - even more than, like, the centerpiece of Baby Einstein - classical music pieces, and even when there are, they're usually Ludwig van Beethoven's 12 contradances. But unlike Animal Friends, there's a mix of both children's and classical, which I'd say is the right way to make a kids' album/CD.
But what makes it better than Animal Friends is that, also unlike the latter, Sing and Play has some great tracks, such as "Camptown Races" or "Old MacDonald" (the version heard in the Baby MacDonald video) or the segway between contradances 1 and 4 during the medley.
Playtime Music Box is, like, the antithesis of the previous three CDs combined in almost every way possible. It has both public domain songs and classical music pieces, but more of the latters. And the children's songs that are in this release are real bangers, such as Hey Diddle Diddle (the recital in the Baby Galileo video set to a funky backing track) and, once again, "Old MacDonald," and they chose some pretty good pieces, too, and ones I could listen to all day.
This is the CD version of a video released a year later, and, while the tracks in this one may sound nice, I don't really listen to them that much especially since they don't have the Baby Einstein feel. I do, however, listen to the William Tell Overture, since, who doesn't love THAT piece?
This is Baby Einstein's only sequel, be it video or CD, and I really have no opinion on it or its tracks, so this is just a default placement. I sometimes listen to the Andante, however.
World Music
This 2009 CD was released alongside a video of the same name, and, together, they kicked off the "World" collection, which also had another video released the same year, "World Animal Adventure," and "World of Colors," due the next year in 2010, and, which, along with the puppet spin-off Einstein Pals, was cancelled for an unnecessary reason I don't want to name.
Now, I know what you're thinking - what makes World Music: The Album better than the first four CDs? Well, while some tracks in this one I don't really and feel like listening to, I quite like the others, such as the funky Purilito ("Lollipop") from Brazil, "Danny Boy" and the catchy Irish Jig, and especially Contradance no. 9, which I'd say is just as good as the slower 2002 version.
Holiday Melodies
This 2006 release is a compilation of instrumental versions of classic Christmas carols and tunes, some of which I don't really listen to while others are well done, such as "All Through the Night," "Toyland," or "Adeste Fidelis" (better known as "O, Come All Ye Faithful"), not to mention this version of "Twelve Days of Christmas" is just as good as, if not better than, the Baby Santa version from 2000.
Baby's Holiday Symphony
A Christmas album right after a Christmas album, and, unlike the previous one, I could sit through all the tracks in this one, though, I don't really listen to two of them, and will say that it has the perfect choices.
This 2006 CD has more composers than the original, which we'll get to later, and some of the tracks are pretty soothing, but, like the next CD, others don't really have the "bedtime" feel, in my opinion, like Waldszenen.
Lullaby Collection
This is one of two CDs released by Scholastic as part of the Playful Discoveries collection (which I remember was a part of Earlymoments), and is the inferior of them. I know I'm certainly one for calming music, and, this CD chose 4 perfect songs for winding down, though the odd one out is Piano Sonata no. 120 since I don't think it's soothing enough.
This is the other Playful Discoveries CD, and is the superior one out of the two. However, I have nothing much to say about this release from Scholastic, it's just that it's a perfect mix between upbeat and calm songs and they chose the perfect ones.
Naptime Melodies
Nothing much to say about this one, it's like a 2009 version of another CD we'll get to later on in this list, but, still, the tracks are, as the title suggests, perfect for naptime, nighttime, or relaxation for when you're having a rough time.
Baby Santa
Last Christmas CD, I promise. As the title suggests, this is the audio version of the 2000 video, Baby Santa's Music Box, which was also the company's only Christmas video release, except the CD has more tracks.
(Boo-ing)
Hey, it's true, and, thus, this is probably my favorite out of the Christmas CDs. I especially like the usage of tracks from non-Christmassy releases that I'd say are perfect for the holiday season or wintertime. The world music (no relation) versions of the tracks heard previously are pretty spot on, even if I don't listen to them either that much or at all, especially the reggae "Joy to the World" and the Caribbean "Twelve Days of Christmas."
This CD was released alongside the Baby Dolittle duology, Neighborhood Animals and World Animals (and the accompanying discovery cards), in 2001, so, before the mouse (and I don't mean Misty or Violet) came on the scene. Both videos have nice pieces which made it here, and I especially like that they included tracks not in the videos but should have been, but there's a piece called "Jack's Music Shop" (after Jack Moss, who sang "Deep Blue Sea" and the original "I Know My Shapes" in Baby Newton?) which is just kids laughing. Whose idea was it to include THAT in a classical music CD?
We're at the really good ones, now, folks! Traveling Melodies is a CD that's full of really great tracks, despite almost all of them being from previous CDs or videos. Speaking of videos, this CD is like On the Go, released the same year in 2005, except I'd say this one is even better. From the Bartered Bride overture to the Language Nursery lullaby, Traveling Melodies has songs that are perfect for any kind of trip - car, train, plane, you name it - it's even there in the cover art!
Like Baby Santa and World Music, this CD is a tie-in to a video of the same name but with more tracks, even ones from other videos, like Baby Beethoven. What I like about the Baby Noah CD is that they give the classical music pieces titles I think are perfect, and you can actually picture the scenarios described while you're listening. I'd say it's probably even better than the video. Go check it out if you have a chance!
What I like about the CD version of the 2003 video it was released alongside is that it has two different sections - "the day sky suite" for songs that suit the sunny sky and "the night sky suite" for songs that suit a starry night, and almost all the tracks in this one are pretty chill and relaxing.
Onto the negatives. What puzzles me about this release is that the Blue Danube Waltz is with the night songs, shouldn't it be with the day ones since it better suits daylight? If I made this album, I'd have my favorite classical music piece (even if I don't listen to it as much as others) and Nocturne in Eb No. 2, which is at the end of the video version when it's night and everything is winding down, better suits the nighttime sky, swap places.
Wake Up and Goodnight
This CD is like Baby Galileo (the CD, not the video), except I'd say IT's even better, and will say they chose the perfect songs for each time of day - upbeat songs for the daytime and calming songs for the night.
Baby Vivaldi
This CD was released in 2002 alongside Baby Newton, and did you know that it was going to get a video that year about the seasons (so was Newton going to have different composers?), except, after Julie left, Disney gave us "Baby Monet" instead. Unlike other post-Baby MacDonald Disney videos, I'm fond of Baby Monet since it was my first Baby Einstein video (and my first piece of kids' media in general), but if we did end up getting the Baby Vivaldi video, it'd be just as good (god, I really need to do a ranking videos post, I'll tell you when).
Anyways, back to the CD.
I put Baby Vivaldi here since I don't really listen to its tracks, except for maybe the second movement of "Autumn" even when it's not said season. Despite mainly featuring tracks heard in Baby Newton and/or Monet as well as ones heard in neither, I also like how they included Double Trumpet Concerto in C from Neighborhood Animals, which was also in another release we'll get to later, since that was also a Vivaldi track.
Music Box Orchestra reuses tracks from previous releases, and all of them are pretty good. What I also like about this CD is that they have some Mozart songs from Baby Mozart followed by some Bach songs from Baby Bach, Beethoven songs from Baby Beethoven, and then four tracks from three other composers, going out quietly with Chopin's "Nocturne" from Baby Galileo. If you ask me, that's a genius way to do a Baby Einstein CD!
Playtime Classics
Along with another CD we'll get to later, Playtime Classics was released by Huggies in 2001 and features pieces from the Baby Mozart and Bach CDs and the then-upcoming Baby Vivaldi, and, boy, despite being the inferior (meaning my least favorite) of the two Huggies releases, did this one choose the perfect tunes, AKA the ones I like to listen to the best (aside from two tracks in the Baby Bach CD which I'd say are the definitive listens)? As I was saying, this CD has pieces from Baby Vivaldi, which I put it under since the latter has tracks, say it with me, guys, I don't really listen to.
This CD is the superior of the two Huggies releases, and includes tracks from three videos released by then - Baby Van Gogh, Neighborhood Animals, and World Animals. However, unlike Playtime Classics, I don't have much to say about Classical Collection, except this one has a nice array of pieces.
Art Time Classics
This is, like, the CD version of Baby Van Gogh, despite having a different title, and I really like the tracks featured, most of which were heard in the aforementioned video, but it also has those from future titles, too, like World Animals, and CD-exclusives, like. I believe every Baby Einstein fan should listen to this CD, because it's, like, a masterpiece, not to mention the tracks are perfect for listening to when you're working on any type of project (like how I put on YouTube videos for background noise).
Baby Neptune
This is the CD version of the video of the same name it was released alongside, and includes tracks from that as well as those not heard in it but were perfect. That's the reason it's one of the best, along with the fact that I listen to it (well, the Hello Enstein Studios re-release on the Apple Music app on my Yo Gabba Gabba! iPhone) on the way to Cape Charles each August (formerly June or July, but changed to by the end of vacation, for some reason). Even if you're mainly a Clark era fan, give this CD a listen, if you will, because it has tracks you'll love.
Baby Mozart
The tracks in this both this release and the video of the same name are really, really nice, no wonder the video is the favorite of so many Baby Einstein fans/enthusiasts. I also feel like the two tracks that weren't in this video should have been in it (though one was in On the Go, which wouldn't be released until seven years later), and I do remember seeing Baby Einstein Red Box Productions (then Mary the Blue Tit Bird) making a video version of the other one using clips from the Baby Mozart vid on her old acconut. The tracks were re-done in 2000, though I prefer the previous version of Papageno's Aria (the "Meet and Greet" part). As for the rest, I haven't listened to them (meaning the 1998 versions) that much.
Baby Bach
Why do I like the CD version of Baby Bach more than the Baby Mozart CD? Well, it's because it has pieces I listen to frequently. I especially like to listen to Flute Sonata in E and Brandenburg Concerto no. 6, which, along with Badinerie, I feel should've been in the Baby Bach video (though they sound more Baby da Vinci-esque and the former was in Baby's First Moves). Two Part Inventions no.1 also wasn't in the video, though I recall Mary the Blue Tit Bird making a video version with the spinning bear toy from Baby Wordsworth. The original version, released after the video but the same year in 1998, had different-sounding versions of the tracks, which I don't have an opinion on, since, I didn't really listen to them.
Bedtime/Lullaby Classics
This CD was originally released in 1999, alongside Baby Shakespeare, the Baby Webster discovery cards, and the Baby Beethoven CD, and initially had tracks from the Baby Mozart, Baby Bach, and Baby Beethoven CDs, though, when Baby MacDonald was released in 2004, it was re-released with the same tracks and two new ones from the aforementioned video. As I said previously in this post, I love, love, LOVE (sorry) calming music and listen to calming Baby Einstein music whenever I have a rough day (I also take meditating baths with the Fanfun YouTube video "Sweet Dreams" on as background noise), and will say that this is the definitive Baby Einstein calming CD, especially since it was the first one released and it also has the best tracks.
Baby Beethoven
Now, as I was saying, the Baby Beethoven CD was released alongside Baby Shakespeare, though, a few months, prior, but three years before its video namesake. You may be asking why it's #1 here, and that's because it's perfect, for all of the tracks in this one are great or spot-on. I do, however, wish the tracks that weren't in any video (like Sonata no. 2) were in videos.
And there you have it, reviews of all 29 "classic" CDs and how I see them - from children's songs overshadowing classical pieces to cozy Christmas collections, calming classics to the best of a single composer. What's your favorite Baby Einstein CD and how do you rank all 29 of them? Let me know in the comments, and I'll see you next time.
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